Amazon explores how high the stakes can get when teens are fighting for their future in Panic, a new series that premieres through the streaming service on May 28. Based on the 2014 YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver, the story revolves around a group of teens in a small Texan town that play a dangerous game every year for the money to escape a cycle of poverty and hopelessness.

This year, one of the unexpected top contestants is Heather Nill (Olivia Welch, Fear Street trilogy), whose last name literally means "nothing." That's exactly what she aims to change when she dives straight into the competition after swearing she'd never join, much to the surprise and concern of her best friend Natalie Williams (Jessica Sula, Scream: The Series).

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Welch and Sula spoke to Screen Rant about how they grew close on set even as their characters fell apart, and what entanglements viewers can expect among the players.

Can you both talk about your friendship onscreen? Heather and Natalie have such a strong bond that gets tested very early on, thanks to Panic. How does that grow or weaken over the course of the season?

Olivia Welch: First off, Jess in real life is one of my best friends. It was the most fun, because we didn't know each other before. I think we almost did the opposite of the our characters, because we came as strangers and then we became best friends. It was funny, because as we were becoming best friends, they were having these fights.

So, it was very fun to go into work every day and be like, "Ooh, you're going to be such a bitch to me today!" It was just the most fun like filming, because even in scenes like the scene at the motel, where a lot is divulged and our relationship really hits a rocky point - in the middle of the day, we accidentally stumbled upon like a hilarious video. Then it was just like a thing, where we had been crying all day and it ended up being like a very funny situation. We had to pull it together, but it made filming all of those things and all the trials of the friendships so fun, because we got to be together all the time.

Jessica Sula: Yeah, I feel very lucky. I just keep saying I feel so lucky that we love each other so much. Olivia's a good captain of the ship; she really set a lovely tone. And she's so kooky and has such a dark sense of humor that every day was a joy.

Natalie is quite a mystery when we first meet her, since we don't know her motivations. She seems very loyal to Heather, and yet she also has this connection with Dodge that is suspicious. Can you talk a little about playing someone whose loyalties are very much in question?

Jessica Sula: It was hard at times, because there were moments where... you don't know what's going on all the time in the script. They would come rolling through, you'll be filming a scene, and you'll suddenly just say when they call cut, "Wait a minute... This means that I must look so terrible!" When people are looking at her onscreen, I'm just flip-flopping and you don't know what my intentions are.

When really in my heart of hearts, it's always like, Natalie just loves Heather. More than Dodge? But there's a kindred spirit thing with Dodge, where they both view themselves as complete outsiders. They both have one course of action that they have in their mind of how things are supposed to go for them. And it's very clear - it's clear for Natalie, but for everyone else, it's like, "What are you doing right now?

Olivia Welch in Panic

Olivia, based on the book, I'm looking at Heather and Bishop's relationship - but then in the show, there's also a spark of tension with a certain Ray. Can you talk about the love triangle going on here.

Olivia Welch: Yeah, it was definitely very... I had read the book in between booking the job and filming the pilot, way back in 2018. I remember them being like, "So much is going to change. Read the book, but don't rely on the book. There's going to be new plots."

I think the Ray thing came along through Lauren knowing both of us and seeing the type of actors we were. She thought that would be something exciting to see onscreen, and it was so great. I feel like [the triangle] is so crazy, but it's very justified in the show.

And that's something that myself and Ray and Camron really tried to keep track of as filming went on. There's obstacles within both of the relationships, and it's something that the three of us - together and separately - talked about a lot in depth; how to justify all the decisions that the three of us were making in that triangle. I feel like that's something that really helped all of us, and I hope you can see in the show that it's very thoughtful, and we put a lot of like love into those relationships and stuff

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Panic's first season premieres May 28 on Amazon Prime Video.